Pushing Too Hard
by sdbubbles
Summary: Set before the series began, and relating to 'One Hour's Sleep,' though it makes sense on it's own. Gibbs and Jenny get in a fight and Jenny's body can't handle the strain of both Gibbs and the job. For 1kiko.


**A/N: This is because 1kiko asked if I could share what happened when Jenny collapsed before, so here goes...**

**Sarah x**

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><p>"Don't you start, Gibbs!" Jenny half-shouted at him across the bullpen. They were the only ones left in the squad room. Burley and Pacci had gone out to spend their Friday night at a bar, and Gibbs and Jenny were the only ones with such a non-existent social life that they were OK with doing paperwork at 2130. However, they had started to fight over their feelings for each other. "I have been an NCIS agent about five minutes, and already you're trying to hook up with me!"<p>

"Hey!" he barked at her. He watched her face go red, knowing that he was right about what she felt. At the same time, he had seen her eyes briefly become unfocused. He thought she was just tired, and continued to argue with her. "I do not do that. I know I'm a chauvinist, but I do not hook up with my agents. Rule number twelve is that you don't date co-workers."

"Well, then. End of discussion," she snapped looking back her paperwork, her eyes struggling to concentrate on the page she was meant to be writing on. He caught this again and was secretly concerned. After a couple of tense minutes, he reluctantly brushed it off as sleepiness. Regardless of what he insisted, he did care deeply about Jenny. They had only worked together a month, but he felt so strongly about her.

He observed as she massaged her head on the desk, feeling a little guilty about stressing her out like this. He had initiated this fight, not her. She was pale now, compared to when they had been arguing. Pure white, in fact. Then, her head stopped moving. Gibbs frowned, going over to her desk and saying, "Jenny, you OK?"

She did not respond and Gibbs knew something was far from normal. He knew that Ducky was still in Autopsy, finishing the examination on their murder victim. He picked up the phone on Jenny's desk and started speaking before Ducky even had a chance to answer properly. "Duck, something's wrong with Jenny. We were talking and she got annoyed. Now, she has her head on her desk and she won't answer me."

"I'll be right up," Ducky promised and hung up the phone. Gibbs continued trying to wake Jenny but was quickly realising that he was wasting his time. Her long red curls were spread across the desk. Ducky got out of the elevator with a case of medical equipment. He strapped a blood pressure monitor to her arm and took her pulse. "Her blood pressure is 90 over 60 and her pulse is about 110. As a doctor, my first diagnosis would be that, especially as your talk was more likely a fight, she got too wound up and this is her body dealing with the strain."

Gibbs nodded, trusting the doctor's decision implicitly. He waited for Ducky to continue while gazing at her. He should have known better than to get her so frustrated and uptight. The case they were working on was a particularly unpleasant one that was taking its toll on the whole team, most of all Jenny. "The best thing we can do is lie her down and wait for her to wake up. If you want, we can take her down to Autopsy," he suggested.

Immediately, Gibbs picked Jenny up in one swift action and made his way to the elevator. Once they reached Autopsy, Gibbs laid her gently down on one of the tables. She was so pale at that moment that she actually looked as if she belonged here. He pushed that thought away from his mind and drew up a stool so he could sit next to her. This was his fault. He knew that the case had driven her to her wit's end. She had thought it was her to blame when the girl was held hostage because she wasn't fast enough to catch the bastard. It wasn't her fault that he ran faster than her, and her defence, she was wearing heels and was still pretty fast.

"Try talking to her, Jethro. Some people wake up quicker if they know someone is with them," explained Ducky, before announcing that he had to go to the lab and to call him if she woke up.

When he left, Gibbs turned to Jenny and said, "I'm sorry for causing a fight, especially when you were already worked up over the case," he apologised, breaking his own rule number six. He didn't know if she could hear him, and hoped that she couldn't. In his mind, she was oblivious to his words, and that was what allowed him to carry on speaking. "I feel very protective of you. I hate it when you get hurt, which you seem to do a lot. Why do you wear the heels if you're so clumsy? You must have hurt your ankle about five times since you started here," he chuckled slightly.

He knew what he was saying was true. He hadn't felt so attached to someone since Shannon died, and in a way, it scared him. It scared him that he could fall for her so quickly. But there was some kind off strong bond between them. They knew what the other was feeling without even having to ask, what they were thinking without being told. He grasped her hand and whispered, "Wake up, Jenny. I won't yell at you."

He just stared at her for a few minutes, until her eyes fluttered open and she mumbled, "Gibbs?"

"Right here," he told her gently. Her face was confused as she looked around the room. Why was she lying on a steel slab in Autopsy, with Jethro holding her hand? And why did Gibbs look like he was pissed, not with her, but with himself?

"What happened?" she demanded, slowly rising to lean heavily on her elbows so she could see him properly. Oh no. Had he found out about what happened to her when she got too anxious? Because that would be really, really bad. The last thing she needed was to be wrapped in cotton wool and protected like a five-year-old.

"You passed out, Jenny," he answered. "Ducky said it was because you got too upset and tense and your body had to find a way of dealing with the strain. It's my fault really," he added. "I was the one who started the fight that put you here."

Suddenly, Jenny's hand collided with the back of his head. He glared at her, but it did not unnerve her in the slightest. "It was not your fault. It would have happened anyway. I suppose you have to call Ducky?"

"Yeah," he replied, grateful that she had reminded him. He did not need Ducky on his case for not looking after Jenny's wellbeing. He used the phone on the desk to phone the lab to get him down there. When he arrived, he checked Jenny over, telling her to walk in a straight line and lift her arms above her head prior to touching her nose then his finger over and over. It seemed to go on forever, until he finally concluded: "I won't send her to the ER, but she is not going home alone tonight."

"I can go to her place," Gibbs volunteered, knowing that she would protest, but at the same time, not really caring. When she opened her mouth to refuse, he placed his hand over it and ordered, "Do as you're told." He led her to the elevator, leaving Ducky smiling openly at them. He could see the fondness that each one felt but neither one showed.

When the elevator started moving, Jenny flicked the emergency stop. "It was only four times," she said, with a hint of defensiveness in her tone. She rolled her eyes when Gibbs looked utterly bewildered at her apparently random statement. "I've only tripped four times since I got here." she clarified.

Gibbs looked mortified. She had been able to hear. Crap. Maybe she didn't hear all of what he said, just that sentence. The chances were pretty slim, though. "You could hear me?" he asked. She nodded silently and they hovered with a couple of inches between their bodies. Gibbs touched her face gently. She was still pale and unsteady, but she knew what she was doing. He pulled her face to his and softly kissed her lips. Surprised, Jenny did nothing until she had processed what had just occurred. Then she made her lips move with his before breaking away when she began to feel light-headed.

Gibbs put his arm around her shoulder to steady her while putting the box back into motion. When they got to her house, they went to her bed, not bothering to change their clothes and huddled together as the rain fell hard and loud on the windows. She fell asleep long before he did, her body exhausted from being under such tension. He put his face in her hair and rested into sleep with her.

He had one the argument, he thought with satisfaction.

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><p><strong>Hope you like it!<strong>

**Please review!**

**Sarah x**


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